Fibromyalgia: What is it?
For many weeks, you've ached from head to toe . You've no energy, cannot concentrate, can't recall the last time you had a sound night's sleep. You have been to the doctor a considerable number of times, but all she can tell you is what you don't have. You've heard about fibromyalgia, perhaps read up about it or even chatted to somebody that has been diagnosed with this confusing disease . Yet nobody can tell you whether you have it.
Sound familiar? If that's the case, welcome to the world of an illness with many faces .
Fibromyalgia - A Demon with Lots of Faces
Fibromyalgia is a widely misunderstood health condition. For well over a century, it's been known by many alternative names, and that wasn't till the 1970s the term" fibromyalgia " was coined.
The name came from the patient's accurate experience of the illness . "Fibro" represents the fibroid tissues that are influenced (i.e. Ligaments and tendons), while "Myo" represents the muscle-bound system and "Algia" means "pain" - which is also the dominant incarnation of this health condition. Essentially,fibromyalgia means being experiencing discomfort nearly everywhere.
Connie Ludtke R.N, at Mayo Hospital, observes that people think fibromyalgia isn't a real medical problem or that it's "all in your head." It's intermittently thought of as a "garbage-can diagnosis:" if doctors can't find anything else wrong with you, they say you have fibromyalgia. She goes on to say that there are particular factors that you must meet to be diagnosed with this condition, including tender, unpleasant points above and below the waist on either side of the body .
A sickness, A Bundle of Symptoms or a Fabrication of your Mind
While there's still alot that remains unknown about fibromyalgia, clinical research has brought a more all-inclusive understanding in just the past couple of years. In particular, findings show that when an individual is afflicted with fibromyalgia, their brain and spine process pain signals differently, making them react more strongly to touch and pressure, and experience a heightened sensitiveness to touch and pressure. Fibromyalgia is a real physiological and neuro-chemical condition.
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has made the diagnosis process for this condition easier for both patient and advisor, by developing countless factors for diagnosing the disorder. According to factors established by the ACR, An individual is thought to suffer fromfibromyalgia if he has experienced far reaching discomfort for about 3 months, in mix with tenderness in at least 11 of eighteen cited tender point sites. Though this would potentially not be as classic as an Xray or blood test, it does at least give some direction that could lead to a relatively reliable diagnosis.
As for treating fibromyalgia well, now that is another story!
About the Author:
Learn more about treatment of fibromyalgia. Here you'll find an invaluable trove of well-researched information on herbal remedies, natural additions, healing foods and today's health news.
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